The Kids in the Back Seat

I have been a parent for over ten years now.  I've been a parent of four children for five years.  Our road trips as a family have evolved from trips to the grocery store that created melt downs, to hours of quiet time and connection with each other while we are traveling.  My children have learned that I have special buttons they don't want to push while we are together in the small space of our mini-van:  wrestling, singing at the top of their lungs, or pestering one another.  Thanks to the GPS, they no longer ask, "Are we there yet?" or "How much longer?"  They can see where we are and where we are going.  It is the clear vision that gives them peace.


 It took us over an hour to find a trail head on a recent excursion. The GPS was wrong (or user error), tensions were high, and we couldn't find it.  No one said a word.  I was so grateful.  They've learned from experience.  They know that silence is golden (and duct tape is silver.)


Sometimes, in ministry and in life, I find myself screaming to God, "Bumpy Road! Bumpy Road!" Or, "How much longer?  I just can't sit here any more."  Having a clear vision brings peace, but sometimes I get lost, I've messed up, I'm frustrated, tired and I just want to get there.  You'd think that I would be as wise as my children and just "be still."   The more I try to find "it" myself, the more lost I become and I'm afraid that I push God's buttons more often than not in the process.

Our children have learned through experience to trust us.  Do I trust God?  My experience says that I should.  Do I trust him with our fundraising challenges?  Will I trust him when flights are delayed, room reservations are for less occupants than team members, lesson plans are scratched, equipment fails, luggage is lost, and tensions are high?  What kind of kid will I be in the back seat?  Will I have a complete melt-down?  Or will I choose to trust God and be still?


" . . . unless you become like little children, . . ." Mt. 18:3

Good Bye Old Friend

My participation in the Peru 2012 Mission trip will be the first stamp on my new passport.  After 9 years and 8 countries, the washing machine finally got the better of my previous passport.  All though it did make it through the border several trips after that (using my tried and true method of "stand there and look stupid and confused until they let you pass"), it was time to stop rolling the dice and actually get it replaced.  Here's to hoping my old passport gets sent back (and not destroyed as one lady said it would be) and I can keep the memories.  Otherwise, my 600dpi scans will be all I'll have to remember my old friend and our journeys.

Glad to be starting off my new passport with a stamp representing a trip based on missions.  I'm happy to be on a team that rooted in a great mindset and vision of helping by building lasting relationships and learning about the community and its needs rather than slapping the Bible, singing some songs, taking some pictures and leaving.

Us vs Technology

So, no one has posted, and it may be because it's a bit difficult to log on to the blog account.  I'm hoping that everyone can get on and let us know what they're thinking and feeling now that we're only two months away from actually being in Peru!

We had a great meeting today and it was so nice to have lunch together and to get to know one another better.  I especially enjoyed hearing what was going on in every one's lives these days....we're all so busy and tend to get tunnel vision about ourselves and what is right in front of us.  As a mom of older kids, I can relate to my team members with little ones around.  I'm so in awe of your ability to focus your heart and mind on going to serve in another country because I'm sure that I would never have even thought about trying to go on a missions trip when mine were that little!  What an example to your children to watch you prepare for a trip like this and to learn from a young age what it means to go and serve others.